What's stopping you buying a new van?

[Flairy]

I love what I have to much to sell for anything except a clou but at 76 I worry about c1 and I realy don’t want someone else to have my Flair sounds awful but it’s part of me

 

[dazandandrea]

We were thinking of buyingva " newish " Bustner, but after looking into the amount extra we would have to pay for something not that much better than our 16 year old Autocruise, we thought sod it.
Keep the old van pay what we have to, to keep it running sweet.
I also know this van in terms of mechanicals and know it will last a few years more.
Pocket the difference and enjoy spending it.

 

[Two on Tour]

More than happy with what we have.

We like the layout, it fits down the driveway at the side of our house, and I have done so many mods to it that I don't know if I would want to go through it again on a new van.

 

[jumar]

Finding a van that provides the the same comfort and practically that our current van provides is one reason...the others are below.
We haven't changed because we don't know how our life style will be in...say, 5 years....do we need a garage to put eMtbs inside...will we be riding in 5 years...are we going to downsize...we just don't know...so every now and then we spend money on our existing van..As I've more than once said on here.... Motorhoming is not our Hobby like with many others....having a motorhome is a means to provide transport and overnight accommodation whilst we travel to areas where we enjoy adventures in the outdoors..and park up amongst nature, watch the sunset and greet us again the next morning...

 

[Lenny HB]

I have done so many mods to it that I don't know if I would want to go through it again on a new van.

That's the best bit of having a new van.

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[DandJ]

We obviously should be looking at our 2nd van (which would be another 'mistake') before finding the right van at our 3rd attempt...or so I've read in many places...but this first moho (a 2022 Chausson) suits us down to a tee and having recently looked at other offerings from Knaus, Carado, Hymer, Weinsberg etc....we'd have to pay many tens of thousands to 'upgrade' to what would be an identical layout, but with slightly better materials or on a MAN/VW chassis rather than our transit. Those many tens of thousands saved will pay for hundreds of days away...

 

[Minxy]

That's the best bit of having a new van.

So when are you getting another as you must surely have finished fettling your current one by now?

 

[Shrimp]

We have looked t used van for many years, never intending to change from our B584.
The B584 is solidly built and has the space we like, the table was a nuisance from day one so we had it ‘chopped’ and hinged so that sorted that.
We have recently looked at several non UK vans and the Rapido and Cathargo, of a certain age, seem quite good!
Still not looking to change yet but maybe………sometime soon.

 

[WESTY66]

So when are you getting another as you must surely have finished fettling your current one by now?

I think he’s realised it was a mistake to buy a 1 berth van, Mi is looking at getting a bigger one (poss a Hymer 678 DL) so they can put ALL their stuff back in

 

[Rob Hammond]

1 waiting for £ to mature 2 hoping right one will come along at the right £ 3 life situations have got in the way but hopefully things will settle down now

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[TheMachMan]

We had planned to replace after this year with new roughly every 5 years to maintain a warranty and have something modern.
However we aren’t sure now because:

• Price to change has jumped a lot.
• Issues & niggles with ours sorted.
• Apart from diesel heating not seen any other new features that we like. New version of ours which is 5years old is virtually identical in most areas.
• Build quality of new. Looked at a new Dethleff but they had loose trim! Only Adria & Westfalia look similar to Malibu.
• Ford, MAN & Merc PVC’s all have narrower bodies so cramped inside.

 

[Deafender]

I wont have adblue at any price.

This is one reason, same with the family cars - one is petrol, the other a 177,000 mile pre-AdBlu Diesel that will be eventually be replaced by a petrol/PHEV… plus, we don’t do finance/depreciation from brand new, so ‘a new new’ MH for us isn’t very likely at all!!

We’re seven months in to our MH and in spite of the hours and mileage racked up in research, have found quite a few reasons to either upgrade this one or part-ex to something else, though this is no complaint- we are thoroughly enjoying the whole thing and now making wider plans for using ours than we had envisaged, which is why we’re even thinking this way.

While I’ve said before here on Funsters that we’ve found a fix or workaround for all bar one of lengthy list of changes on our wish list, we’ve yet to come across a used or new MH that features them all, and which lies in our price range.

We have a spreadsheet entitled ‘upgrade vs part-ex’… at the moment the thinking favours keeping what we have and spending the money on it, but we’re still looking at what else comes up - we just need to decide when we make the decision - perhaps when we find an MH that checks off the whole list?…

 

[Two on Tour]

That's the best bit of having a new van.

It’s the trying to get up after the crawling under the van that I could do without, .... yes, there are a fair few additions under our van as well as in it.

 

[funflair]

View attachment 1007563
I love what I have to much to sell for anything except a clou but at 76 I worry about c1 and I realy don’t want someone else to have my Flair sounds awful but it’s part of me
View attachment 1007563

I think the longer you keep them the harder it is to change

 

[Stoosal]

We had looked at downsizing to a pvc. Current one is only 5 years old but to change to one’s we like it would mean us leaving them our current vehicle plus an amount of cash more than we paid for our current vehicle! We simply don’t think current prices justify the change. The build quality doesn’t seem as good in many of these vehicles and everything now seems to be an ‘added extra’!
For now, our vehicle has everything we need. A change to a pvc would would give us a more manoeuvrable vehicle but the cost is simply too much.

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[Carpmart]

Cost to value ratio is at this time falling in favour of retention and not upgrading… ours traded in (or sold) plus a further £250k for the new model of ours, gives us very little upside to what we have currently…

 

[Diabalo]

My Auto-Trail Mohawk is 12 years old now and I have had it for 11 of those years, we have looked at replacing Molly but the build quality doesn't seem as good now days. On top of that the horror stories around modern engine and gearbox problem some are had/having focuses the mind.

I have just renewed my Licence to retain my C1 so may look again and downsize to a 3500kg van in a couple of years.

 

[ontheroadagain]

I think a lot of people are currently happy to keep what they have. New motorhomes are just too expensive now. We had thought about changing but can’t justify the cost. I keep an eye on all our local dealers websites. The same motorhomes have been for sale for months and very little appears to be selling. New stock is also starting to arrive. I think the dealers are in for a tough year but perhaps prices will drop to a more realistic level.

 

[gus-lopez]

Income ,mainly.Or the lack of it. Even with money I wouldn't be buying anything with emissions controls, ad blu,dpf . This van had a cat but that was all.

 

[G1969]

I did a bit of an assessment of the prices/ time value of money. We bought a new autotrail in 2009 for £68k , which is now the equivalent to circa £106k which is surprisingly the new price of a new one now. So in this particular case they have only gone up with inflation!!, not sure about other makes/ models.

As Westy has commented we also are so fortunate to have what we have got now, that enables us to live life as we do..

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[Harrogate motorhomer]

What’s stopping us is :
Ad blue
Price to change doesn’t represent value for money
But mainly Joe from Colchester who we met at camping L’escala over 5 years ago who had 11 vans in 13 years & when we were discussing changing vans said if there’s nothing wrong with it that can’t be fixed for a few quid then keep it . Well I didn’t take your advice then Joe but I am now!

 

[Archie H]

We have just returned to a coachbuilt Knaus after 4 years with our WildAx Elara panel van with double island bed. The WildAx had it's problems and were resolved reasonably easily. We bought the Knaus 650 Meg TI Oct and it hadn't turned a wheel until last Wed when I returned it to the dealership to have the grey waste valve replaced. Only time will tell now whether it was the right decision or not? We were offered almost as much as we paid for the Elara so thought it was a reasonably favourable purchase for the new MH and the return of a garage which was badly missed. I'm hoping our troubles are over!!

 

[Geistguy]

Our reasons are a combination of what has already been said. We purchased new in March 2019 before prices went silly. Covid 19 scuppered our plans and most travelling, so we didn't really do much until 2020/21. We normally change every 5 years but we can't find anything better in layout or spec than we already have, we've also added refillable LPG bottles, lithium battery plus other less expensive "fettles". I reckon we would have to add at least £30k to swap for no advantage, so no plans to change at all.

 

[Clive Mott]

Because after nearly 8 years of ownership we have the van exactly how we want it, it has all our toys and is a delight to drive and sleep in.

 

[Jim L]

When I say 'new' I mean 'new to you'

This thread isn't for those who are buying or have bought new vans.

It is for those who in normal times might have upgraded by now. Or those who are thinking about it but haven't

Why haven't you?

Prices too high?
Part exchange offers too low?
Anything else? Why aren't you upgrading/exchanging?

Too old, 86 today. With much reluctance might have to give up motorhoming next year.

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[Andy1954]

This our 4th, we knew what we wanted and found it. Have made mods to suit us. So unless something else that’s very special comes along we will be keeping our Burstner Brevio

 

[Saucer]

Too old, 86 today. With much reluctance might have to give up motorhoming next year.

Happy birthday

 

[MisterB]

We recently considered moving to an A class with a permanent double bed, but the ones we looked at didn't actually give us any more than we already have in terms of everything else, other than the double bed and we've realised we actually love the single beds layout with a large bathroom across the back. I think the fact also that its an Adria, so a very good build quality, also helps. The two singles, on the same level as the rest of the motorhome, also provides emergency seating at times in direct conversational contact with anyone using the dining/cab area, which was something we hadnt considered until it happened.

i think that now we realise how well our motorhome suits us in terms of layout, that its only internal changes to appliances that we might consider, with compressor fridge, diesel truma being some of them, but the reality is its not worth changing them until they become faulty.

we would also like to change the table to a folding/sliding type, which we both agree would suit us better but i would like to change the kitchen worktop, remove the gas burners and replace with a flush mounted induction hob, which according to SWMS is NEVER going to happen, though she has agreed to consider removing the oven, which 'we' havent used for at least 18 months!

externally, i think we're pretty much there, i am tempted to go for an underslung lpg tank, but will lose capacity, so until we do (if ever) the compressor fridge and diesel truma, then that wont happen. we now have a great chassis mounted bike rack, have uprated to 4000kg, have an external shower, bbq and electric point aswell as an anderson 12v connector, solar (though enough is never enough ,,) sat dish (largely unused), so the outside is pretty much done, (though i do like those neat foldaway tables that attach the side of the motorhome and fold flat).

so in short, we wont be changing our motorhome anytime soon on the basis of the perfect motorhome for us, doesnt actually exist as we cant really afford a bespoke one off model, unless we make those changes to our existing ..... and even then i bet i would want to add something extra LOL (so please stop advertising stuff in the classifieds section please!)

 

[bellabee]

We bought ours new in 2017 and are very comfortable in it.
It has its little foibles but we know what they are,
We're plated at 3850 but know we could run it legally at 3500, if the need were to arise.
We don't think that a new van would enhance our motorhoming experience in any way.
A new van wouldn't represent value for money to us.
We prefer to spend our cash on other things.

 

[Puddleduck]

We no longer have a motorhome.

Won't be getting another anytime soon as there isn't one where the layout would accommodate our needs so it would have to be a custom build plus then there is the cost..... We could have so many cruise holidays for what we would need to pay for a new van.

I do miss the freedom of the motorhome but when we couldn't use it and it was sitting on the drive it was a huge worry and responsibility.

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